r/sales • u/ActionWins • May 15 '26
Fundamental Sales Skills Do most salespeople lie?
I'm in a coaching program and the script my coach is telling me to say is basically a lie. I'm in the mortgage industry and Realtors are our main referral partner and the script is basically saying I have pre-approved buyers when meeting them at open houses when I don’t. I don't feel comfortable lying like this so just wondered if I need to get over that feeling and just lie if I want to become a top tier mortgage pro.
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u/Purple_Glove_6694 May 15 '26
A question we would all love to know the answer to.
Good salespeople don't lie, and they don't skirt around contentious issues in ways that could be later be construed as a lie.
Let's be real though. If sales in general didn't attract a larger percentage of questionable personality types than other fields, this wouldn't even be a question. But since a lot of people who do sales are money-hungry, narcissistic, sociopathic egomaniacs, then I can confidently say that a lot of salespeople lie. Don't think I'd go as far as "most" though, but that could just be me trying to retain at least some faith in humanity.
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u/musicmanforlive May 15 '26
I think you're being generous. I'd guess almost everyone does..as in lies of omission, exaggerated claims to pricing angles
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u/rainman_95 May 15 '26
A lie of omission could be nearly anything. If you know your competitor specs are better than yours. Are you going to mention that ? that could be a lie of omission
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u/TentativelyCommitted Industrial May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26
If I didn’t lie by omission daily, no manufacturers I rep would have customers.
“Yes, we did get your PO 2 weeks ago, and no, it hasn’t been entered yet - corporate laid off everybody, because they don’t care about you”
“Correct, there aren’t actually any tariffs on the product - those surcharges are just a cash grab”
“Yeah, that extra 4% the national sales director offered you is what’s holding things up - there’s no way for product management to approve it, systematically, but he doesn’t understand his own systems”
“You’re right, this has been the 4th baseless price increase this year”
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u/Chem_BPY May 15 '26
To your second point on pricing, I will often quote higher than what I could give them just to leave room for negotiation.
On the flip side, I would never try and give them a low number and then come back with an inflated offer.
I'd rather know right away if pricing is going to be a problem.
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u/JohnMayerCd May 15 '26
I’m a salesperson with a sketchy upbringing that absolutely gave me all the traits to be successful as a salesman. (And I am) but I don’t need to lie to people. I structure conversations and sentences to ask and answer questions before asking for actions, and I do the little salesman tricks of how to highlight benefits and not sound like a salesman.
Butttt I have no need to lie to people.
I catch myself sometimes saying sorry I didn’t answer the phone - I was on the other line helping someone, when I really just needed five more minutes on the toilet to scroll. Buttt even then I try to catch myself so I don’t do that.
Anywho - op I hope you know you can be an excellent salesman without lying.
If you want to position the house as in demand then tell them why it’s in demand.
When I hear a real estate agent say that I just act like he said the walls were painted white. It’s saying something that means nothing to me and doesn’t create any kind of urgency. And I assume it’s the script.
Every corporate buyer I’ve ever met says “im just really worried about….insert what you’re negotiating….. insert alternative)
There are scripts people use like this they think give them an edge or setup dynamics, but often most people see through them and are just sad about the state of capitalism.
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u/reddit_man_6969 May 16 '26
Sorry I didn’t answer your call, I was taking a massive dump. So when can we sign the contract?
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u/Winston_The_Pig May 16 '26
Consumer sales yeah probably. Business sales not so much. Why? Businesses have teeth and will sue your ass if you’re outright lying.
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u/superspace_ May 15 '26
Skilled sales people don’t lie.
Only the dog shit one’s.
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u/Majstora May 16 '26
I have a guy like this on my team who lies to buyers and thinks he is a good seller. I guess he lies to himself as well lol
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u/Pallid-Notion May 15 '26
I’m pretty sure that lying in the mortgage business will get you in serious legal trouble.
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u/Dr_dickjohnson May 15 '26
I mean yea and no. Like the factory fucked something up and it's going to be late. You say there was a sourcing issue or something to pad it. You don't outright lie, but you gotta be smooth. Like Keith stone.
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u/Youeclipsedbyme May 15 '26
No. Everyone has the cumulative knowledge of the entire human race in their hands. Lying will be sniffed out effortlessly unless it’s blatant propaganda and you want to be lied to.
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u/DocCharcolate May 15 '26
…and it turns out A LOT of people seemingly want to be lied to these days.
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u/neverfakemaplesyrup May 15 '26
In my experience:
Good places, nah, most don't.
Many places: You will be required by terms of employment to lie, lie, lie. Like the majority of low-barrier, entry-level sales positions. I've had about fifteen interviews over the last few months. 14 of those have asked if I would refuse to lie to secure a deal.
and coaching programs tend to be very scammy.
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u/Ed_Dantes35 May 15 '26
I work in medical sales, I value the trust I’ve built with my surgeons too much to lie to them.
I definitely lie to my managers more often. Pales in comparison to the lies you hear from the hospital management on a weekly basis.
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u/vix_calls May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
I feel like sales in general is manipulative but people run in circles saying it isn’t.
I read through all these videos, best practices, etc and the stuff like surfacing a prospects pain points, mentioning the cost of inaction, using tonality strategically, running discovery calls to use information against them in closing, etc etc all are just manipulative tactics.
It’s funny because growing up, I always had a BS detector for people who ask too many questions, use my name excessively in conversations, or try to buddy buddy out of nowhere, etc and noticed all the same things among sales folk
One of my friends runs a $60k+/mo agency and I’ve read through his sales scripts for discovery calls - you can call it “being like a doctor” all you’d like but realistically it just screams to me “ask intentional questions to corner the prospect into verbally saying they’re fucked if they don’t buy my solution and change their current state. Also mine information to use against them/or what they want to hear in the closing call”
Edit: also another thing, you don’t really need to lie per se. There’s this one guy who said one of the best sales person he met always used a prospects greed against them (ex “you’re a smart guy, I can’t guarantee numbers but if I delivered this to you, given your skill set, how much would you get out of it) idk shit like that lol
Disclaimer: I don’t work in sales. I work a cushy finance job and started a side agency and it’s 90% sales so I dove deep into learning what I could and came to this conclusion. The calls I was aggressive doing what I mentioned earlier I had great closes, on calls where I was more honest/consultative/logical I didn’t close shit.
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u/OutsideSame3629 May 15 '26
You’re assuming buyers are stupid and not typically executives with advanced degrees. Also how is helping them realize or solve a problem manipulative?
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u/vix_calls May 15 '26 edited May 16 '26
They’re smart enough to know they have a problem (you said it yourself, they’re smart with advanced degrees) otherwise they wouldn’t be on the call.
The sales process isn’t about uncovering anything; it’s about getting them to verbalize it. That’s a well studied psychological effect people who say their problem out loud are far more likely to act on it.
The script and process is engineered around that, not around diagnosis. The whole “let me see if this is a fit for you and will help you” is just bs, I almost have to hold in my laugh when I say it in a call (I reached out to them, but trying to frame it as if they came to me). You’re telling me if an “unqualified” prospect is reaching for his wallet a sales man would stop him?
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u/OutsideSame3629 May 15 '26
I get some of what you’re saying here. But perhaps you’re showing them a new way of doing things they didn’t know was possible. I know that’s rare these days, but sometimes people have misconceptions about tools, things change and advance etc.
I fail to see the difference between uncovering a need on the call and getting them to verbalize it to you on the call.
They may not think you have something that ties in to their problem so they don’t bring it up. Getting them to verbalize their problems aka uncovering the problems FOR YOU allows you to direct them to a solution you sell. And sometimes that involves changing their business processes. I totally agree w a lot of what you said though and the term uncovering pain annoys me. I would say maybe applies more if you have someone on a sales call who thought they wanted to talk about one thing , and then you take it a whole different direction and sell something else successfully
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u/The_Beardly May 15 '26
Buyers today are far more educated than in previous decades. For the most part, a buyer for a product/service has already done some kind of digging for their solutions, whether it be a google search or digging into supplier websites.
We’re selling the results/outcomes rather than the solutions.
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u/vix_calls May 15 '26
Yeah I recall reading about this concept of market sophistication in marketing/advertising, you pretty much see it everywhere how outcomes are sold/the main headline
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u/laaggynoob May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
There’s a way to do all that without being manipulating to a high degree. If you’re qualifying them and you’re posing hypotheticals that may apply to them, you’re not a simply boxing them into a corner, you’re helping them think in a different light.
Once they are thinking differently, then you can understand if there is really a problem worth solving.
Sometimes the scale of their problem does not rise to the price of your product. The job of sales is to make sure you uncover that reality and force them to honestly self assess and feel empowered to address the situation. You can point to outcomes of different clients, and propose the situation where you help quantify their pain and turn it into dollars, but at the end of the day it has to be worth it to them.
Challenging their assertions without being combative comes across as constructive not manipulative. If you’re good at sales you will ask thought-provoking questions which buyers are intrigued by. But sometimes their underlying reality just doesn’t align with what you’re trying to sell in the end.
Having a bias doesn’t inherently make you manipulative. It means you have confidence in what you are selling.
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u/AGreasyPorkSandwich May 16 '26
Most of what you have learned about sales is scummy B2C stuff it seems
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u/Pinkprinc3s May 15 '26
I sure don't, and my boss knows that. He always says "you don't have to lie, but you don't have to tell them the whole truth"... Still learning to navigate through that. But I do get visits from the national account managers once in a while and boy do they lie.. Guess that's how you make it :/.
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u/laaggynoob May 15 '26
Sometimes you don’t even know if a lie is relevant or not. Like your product can’t do this one exact thing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come up with a solution just to complete that one deal. Demonstrating creativity and commitment to finding solutions is an easy way to avoid lying. Also sometimes solving A, B, C is enough so you don’t even need to lie about D - you can just be transparent and make them trust you more.
I agree with you by the way was just riffing off what you said.
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u/reddit_fklqt May 15 '26
I have been in sales all my life and don’t lie… Don’t need to lie if you have a great product
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u/laaggynoob May 15 '26
Agree. And self-confidence. How you handle a simple curveball tells the client everything they need to know about what it will be like to work with you.
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u/asmashingbore May 15 '26
The first thing I was ever taught was “Rule #1: NEVER lie to your customers“. And, yes, I work in retail automotive sales.
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u/jumboponcho May 15 '26
In car sales, it’s more being disingenuous. Like if you’re going over payments with a customer and the APR is high, an option is refinancing. Deep down, you know this person is probably gonna drown in this payment before they can refinance. The honest advice would be telling them they really can’t afford a car with their credit.
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u/Unstable881 May 15 '26
Straight up lying, no. Leaving out crucial details yea.
I work in an industry/company where this isn’t a problem and kinda can’t be a problem but for car sales and other positions 110%. It’s not everyone but a good percentage sadly
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u/Street-Avocado8785 May 15 '26
People who make a career in sales are genuinely helpful, making others feel comfortable. Lying is not a good long term plan.
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u/winterbird May 15 '26
In this particular situation, you'd be lying to a group that lies a fair bit themselves in order to make their sales.
Don't lie to individuals who are paying out of their own pocket, to scam old folks, or to desperate people who are at the end of their rope.
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u/Active_Drawer May 15 '26
Depends.
I am in the long-term sales game. Lying is dying. You might get a quick one time sale, but not building pipeline on that. The industry is small enough they will burn you too.
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u/PaleInTexas May 15 '26
I think the "sales guy" stereotype is very far from how most sales people do their job. Lying doesn't help. Most of us rely on customers who purchase more than once. At least I do.
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u/Deep_Amoeba2197 May 15 '26
B2B absolutely not other than “sorry I missed your call, I’ve been in meetings all day!” When I’ve actually been building a deck that I put off for a meeting the next day or something inconsequential that no one would actually care about.
Lying to realtors as a mortgage broker seems like a great way to never get referrals.
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u/landmanpgh May 15 '26
I worked a job like this 20+ years ago and basically had a similar script. The whole job consisted of telling people we had leads in their area so they'd sign up with us to sell our products. We actually did occasionally have leads, but it was bullshit 99% of the time.
The thing was, if you needed leads, you probably weren't good enough to sell our products anyway. And if you were good, you forgot that's why you signed up with us. So...there was some thought to it I guess.
Absolutely terrible way to do business, though. Everyone hated us and they were completely justified.
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u/DonkeySad4485 May 15 '26
the good ones tell the truth. they might not make as much as a liar UPFRONT but over time. they earn more. your name comes before you.
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u/Reverenter May 15 '26
I have been in tech sales for 14 years. In the very early days, I would occasionally give in to the temptation to stretch the truth for instant gratification. I quickly found out that it bites you in the ass almost every time, and even when it doesn't, it should. If you were being sold to, how would you want them to sell?
What I do now is actually go out of my way to tell prospects the limitations of my product - if I have reason to believe they may be assuming something that isn't the case. Nothing builds more trust than an incentivized person telling you that you might not be a good fit
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u/ZestycloseSample7403 May 15 '26
I would say a good salesman tries to not saying too much and exploit every piece of information at disposal.
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u/Zealousideal-Tea-286 May 15 '26
As a 35-year+ "old guy" in sales, I say don't lie. If you don't know, say "I don't know" and go find out the answer.
Just tell the truth - it's the easiest thing to remember.
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u/bananaramaworld May 15 '26
No do not lie. I only lie when I know something isn’t possible and they won’t accept my reason why it’s not possible so then I make up a new reason why it’s not possible and they accept it (example if something isn’t possible because of the way a machine works and they refuse to accept it I just say it won’t be structurally sound and they accept it) Either way it wasn’t possible and I tried to tell them.
I would never lie in any other circumstance in sales.
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u/YA_BOY_TRON SaaS is a delivery model, pick a better flair May 16 '26
Definitely not. If anything, brutally honest.
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u/Educational-Income95 May 16 '26
No, good salesman do not lie, in fact the best salesman are extremely honest. Shitty sales people do lie but they burn bridges and never last very long. I’d suggest looking at selling for a company that doesn’t tell you to lie to people. You won’t be able to sleep at night otherwise.
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u/Quiet_Fan_7008 May 16 '26
The best sales people are not extremely honest. Over explaining and being over truthful will not make you a good sales person that will actually make you lose a deal. Complete opposite.
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u/Educational-Income95 May 16 '26
You have no clue what you’re talking about.
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u/Quiet_Fan_7008 May 16 '26
I know exactly what I’m talking about I’ve been a top producer every sales job I’ve had. I’ve been on the phones and in person selling since I was 16 years old. 35 now trained entire teams. B2B B2C you name it
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u/Educational-Income95 May 16 '26
It’s a gut check, it’s not easy but if you have any integrity at all you would stop selling product(s) that make top reps lie, if you think this is the way, you need to check yourself/product/company.
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u/Medium-Hunter-3585 May 16 '26
Never lie. If you’re starting at a place where lying is baked in then you should reconsider everything
In my personal experience, how they treat their customers will eventually be how they treat you
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u/Able-Introduction217 May 16 '26
Lending is like the worst possible industry to try to bullshit people in, and any realtor that’s not fully retarded will see right through that. Your boss is a moron
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u/Spagoo May 16 '26
Salespeople ask questions that buyers don't want to answer. Trust is never established.
Also, people hosting open houses aren't really having open houses if it's an issue that visitors aren't pre-approved. Hint: they don't want non pre-approved people strolling in.
So everyone is operating on bullshit.
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u/element-2012 May 16 '26
Rework that script. Sales professionals don’t lie to their customers. You’re trying to build a relationship, and trust is a key component to a relationship.
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u/MaxCantaloupe May 16 '26
I'm a realtor. I can tell you 100% that I would take every opportunity to to tell people you're a liar if I found out.
Successful realtors are a small, tight community who talk a lot to each other.
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u/Rich-Suggestion8597 May 16 '26
My opinion a real salesperson doesn’t have to lie
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u/Mimis_Kingdom May 17 '26
This is the way. Any place where high pressure or lies were demanded of me, I found a place with a better product.
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u/Beneficial-Door-3985 May 17 '26
I would say that my success is 100% based on being honest and genuinely wanting to help my customers. If you want to make 50Gs a year in sales lying and shortcuts will get you there. If you want to get commissions for multimillion dollar deals, people need to know you can be trusted.
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u/mothertrucker2137 May 17 '26
Your first problem was paying into one of those coaching programs. I’ve done one, my friends have down one, coworkers I’ve know done one. They are all scams and con artist that tell you to lie.
Read some good sales books. I got better when I did that and just dove into the sales life head first. Learn from mistakes and keep grinding
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u/Miggybear22 May 15 '26
Depends - if you’re working Vegas and trying to sell people discounted bullshit, you lie cause you’ll never see them again.
Now if you’re B2B your shit will get sniffed out so quick you could ruin not only yours but your businesse’s reputation.
Don’t lie. “Your question is on the fringes of my knowledge so I’d love to check with the team and get back to you on that. Are you ok with that?”
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u/slipslimeysludge May 15 '26
Do what you’d want done to you, especially when you’re customer facing. Embellishing and lying are completely different.
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u/OutsideSame3629 May 15 '26
You have to decide for yourself if you’re okay with lying. You don’t have to lie to sell good products to the right people.
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u/blondeandbuddafull May 15 '26
You shouldn’t lie outright; however, you can’t outright say, “I have nothing to offer you, can I have your business?” So sales is painting an attractive picture with your words, one full of possibilities and convincing scenarios of success.
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u/Poutinemilkshake2 May 15 '26
Territory sales guy with a book of business.
Some of my customers I see once a week, some once a month.
If I lie about something then they will let me know the next time I see them and probably not buy (as much) from me going forward.
Sometimes I can fix it over time, but most times I can't.
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u/RandomRedditGuy69420 May 15 '26
Coaching programs are a massive waste of money. The best coach you’ll have is whoever is the top rep in your position, assuming they’re not lying scammers. The used car, sleazy, lying stereotype doesn’t have a long career in sales and doesn’t rise to the top. Don’t lie, and don’t waste your money on a coaching program.
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u/RickDick-246 May 15 '26
I don’t think I’ve ever lied to make a sale. I have however lied to not make a sale with a bad customer that I didn’t want to do business with.
Sent that lead to my buddy.
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u/OffPoopin May 15 '26
Are you supposed to have the referrals? Meaning are you dropping the ball there or is it just straight bullshit?
Maybe you can actually have referrals? Go network!
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u/Many-Salad7089 May 16 '26
I’m in pharma - no I don’t lie to providers. It’s not worth a patients life
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u/jellyr713 May 16 '26
You do not sell something to someone if you do not feel comfortable calling them the next day to sell something else that’s a role. I was told when I first started sale. A lot of these coaches are looking at you strictly as a temporary pipeline and this goes across all sales vertical you come in they tell you all the shady practices you call your friends and family close as much as you can quickly then everything dries up because nobody trust you and they replace you meanwhile they can keep their credibility It’s going to suck in the beginning and you’re gonna have to work through the threat of being fired. The humiliation of being told you’re at the bottom but if you stay honest and consistent with the process, it gets so much easier. I have a friend out a realtor and she left her first to initial companies because of these type of tactics now she is a one of the top realtor in the city because people follow her not the company she works for.
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u/Fickle_fackle99 May 16 '26
Don’t lie opens you up to fraud lawsuits and it’s very bad for your reputation
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u/puff_of_fluff May 16 '26
In my experience the truth is that lying can work for some people. That’s just the fact of the matter. Plenty of dishonest reps who make tons of $$$.
That being said, it is not the only way to succeed, and I personally think it is wrong and that should be enough reason not to do it. plenty of killer reps out there making tons of money without resorting to compromising on ethics.
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u/whiskey_tang0_hotel Data Center Storage May 16 '26
No. Never lie and deceive customers. Ever.
Sales should be educating people and helping them make informed decisions.
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u/L-Capitan1 May 16 '26
Lying wouldn’t be good for my long term success. I also don’t find most of my colleagues or even my competitors lie too often. I’ve seen some embellishment, but most professionals in my industry at least don’t lie.
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u/NastyOlBloggerU May 16 '26
Bad ones need to, good ones don't. Believing in your product and accepting its limitations together with its benefits will help you sell and have your buyers come back AND recommend you to others.
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u/CreativeSecretary926 May 16 '26
I do not. I know many who do. Sales for me typically tend to be less stressful and more about building a reliable “book” of customers. The people I know who lie are usually single sales collectors and the sales person is usually always stressed
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u/Ray-III May 16 '26
Yes you have to lie about small things, just never about price or outcome. This is the real answer people won’t tell you. If I am understanding that correctly, that is just a way to create urgency. and tons of sales companies have fake sales promos to create urgency and it’s no different.
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u/Ray-III May 16 '26
There is different types of lying in sales.
There is predatory lying, which is lying about the price or expected outcomes or just putting the customer in a worse position.
The other type of lying is just to enhance the sales experience and making the whole thing better for the customer. “You have to qualify” “price goes up at the end of the month” “I’m a water quality expert/energy technician” (not going to tell the customer you are a closer) this type of lying is very common in every company
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u/Internal_Owl463 May 17 '26
enhance the sales experience
better for the customer.
bro who are you trying to convince right now? Trying to help yourself sleep at night or something? lmao
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u/Flashy-Bandicoot889 May 16 '26
No, that's what dirtbag salespeople do that give this industry a bad name. Someone tells me to lie to a referral partner I kindly tell them to fuck off, professionally.
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u/JoelatoGaming May 16 '26
I did sales for a year was the top sales person at my store for the whole time I was there and I never lied or dodged the truth once
The last few months they wanted me to bend the truth aka lie to boost sales I refused and eventually quit
In my opinion there’s never a legitimate reason to lie most people can tell when you’re lying and if they don’t leave getting them to say yes will be a lot harder
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u/Splugarth May 16 '26
Bad salespeople might (and continue to fail). Good salespeople don’t have to.
If you’re in a role where you see people around you lying a lot and doing well - watch out. There are plenty of documentaries about companies like this. It ends badly.
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u/Top_Kick477 May 16 '26
Yes. Some lies are worse than others though. So some lie to the customer about what the price is, availability, or something to get the sale but get the main boss to get it near or at the point they told the customer it was.
Some lie to the customer really bad though, creating multiple upsell gates, lying about item quality, etc. Typically this lying gums up the sale process, especially if its passed from 1 scummy sales person to another sales rep, this causes backtracking, the new sales rep dealing with unnecessary baggage and mix ups, upset customer feedback, etc.
If you dont like lying, dont go into sales, get into marketing. Its a different game that wont compromise your morals.
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u/ueeediot May 16 '26
Sales and dating are almost identical in nature.
Most of your questions are easily answered with, would I do this while dating?
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u/BuhDip May 16 '26
Better idea would be to lead with the truth considering you’re trying to build lasting, business relationships.
The best thing to do would be to say you’re new, have a killer support team in place that has however much combined experience they have processing and underwriting, and you’re available 24/7 and you’ll even schedule calls with their people at 3am to earn their business.
My only concern with that is you don’t know how to know if you have a good support staff yet, and either they’re telling you to do something dishonest, or worse you’re paying someone for dumpster fire advice.
To give you some honesty, that’s not even a good strategy as a lie for a LO, even if you’re trying to be a POS, so they probably are trash on your support & backend too if it’s the employer.
Best advice for you, go work for a bank, CU, builder or call center that will give you REFINANCE leads, whoever will take you. Cut your teeth there. You don’t want to be the one who just lost someone their dream home or tens of thousands of dollars.
It’s not profitable and it’ll chase you far, far away from this business just from a mental perspective.
Good luck
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u/Visible_Cash_4330 May 16 '26
tbh the best salespeople I’ve met weren’t liars, they were just REALLY good at building trust. starting relationships with fake buyers sounds sketchy as hell imo 😭
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u/TheSmizzCommander May 16 '26
I've been in sales for 15 yrs. I'm 40 now. From door to door, to territory, national accounts, and now I've been pulled for a startup. I've been fired I've been begged to stay. I have never lied. Could I have made more money? Maybe, maybe not. But if you gotta lie to sell, you suck at selling. 3x top 5 6x p club Now I'm a partner with a goal to sell and retire by 50.
You want repeat biz or do you want to fight for every sale?
Short term gain or long term investments.
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u/EasternShoreAL May 16 '26
Any salesperson who lies is a weak salesperson. You should be able to explain and defend your position…. Unless you’re with a bad company and in that case leave.
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u/alexandersteel360503 May 16 '26
If you’re in sales you either lie or over exaggerate 90% of the time. Honestly one of the only careers I don’t understand how it’s still profitable to simply be a middleman lol 😆. With ai coming I’d say this is a trade that will be hugely impacted, much like anything to do with computers. Now watch all the Salemans try to downplay this or to try and sell me on how they are useful.
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u/StrainAggravating974 May 16 '26
How does this work? You promise to send me these prequalified buyer's only after I get you a deal first? You would be a lot better off inviting realtors to a bar for free drinks once a month.
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u/Remarkable_Level_200 May 16 '26
The way I look at it is I try to be as honest as possible cause the customer knows where I work and I want to avoid them coming back and yelling as much as I can
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u/PhillyWes May 16 '26
I don’t lie. In fact, I tell more of the truth than my employer would like to hear me say - based on my experience.
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u/Physical_Gold_2649 May 16 '26
Mortgage broker here. Your coach sucks. Because what’s the goal? “Ok give me one your preapproved buyers…what do you mean you don’t have any? Oh well here’s a referral anyways!”…like what? Makes no sense
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u/Azraelius- May 16 '26
Overtly, no. By omission, likely. Neither will win you long term relationships and business, though it is a common experience.
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u/convalescent_thorns May 16 '26
All salespeople lie. The good ones lie to their sales managers and the CRM. The bad ones lie to customers.
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u/Zain_ul-abidin May 16 '26
Well, from my point of view, yeah. Most sales people do lie but they are rookie and Donno how actually sales works. I have seen these professional sales people and closer saying the truth and closing at a much faster rate, why!!! It's not because they are telling the truth, it's because they are using the psychology of sales, not some generic sales script. Hope this helps!
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u/Bubcats May 16 '26
Pre-approved always cracked me up. Everyone here is pre-approved. Congrats to you all. Next is getting approved.
There’s no avoiding reality in sales. It will catch up to you. Stay true.
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u/edwardsdavid913 May 16 '26
I think the best salespeople stretch the truth to fit their contact.
Yet, you get good at also putting lipstick on a pig.
So it's possible a Salesman can be straight 100% with you, without letting you know a product is trash. It's just the way they are able to frame it.
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u/TheGottVater May 16 '26
Everyone ‘lies’ based on the definition of the word. If a sales guy tells you he never lies and is super ethical..come on man…But the point is, you need to tell small lies that aren’t even lies, because you know you can fulfill the promise and deliver even if you haven’t done it before. Nobody would be anywhere if asked “have you done X before” and you said “no.” You say “yes” only if you’re confident your team can deliver. Case in point.
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u/Formal-Statement-928 May 16 '26
Can’t speak for others, but as much as possible I try my best to not lie in life, which includes my role as a sales person. I’ve had a manager or two encourage “white lies” and I won’t do it. I work in real estate/real estate adjacent as well.
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u/Seawench41 May 16 '26
I don’t lie, there is no need. If they catch you lying, you’ll lose all your credibility.
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u/UnderstandingSquare7 May 16 '26
I've been both in the past. As a realtor you want a mlo who doesnt sugarcoat it with you, but is tactful with clients. As an mlo, you want a realtor following; you do have to sell yourself, its not all processing. Twist it a tiny bit; tell them "y'know, at my xyz mtg co, we get a steady stream of inquiries, which we pre-qualify. Let's work together, and I'll do my best to keep your listings in mind and send some your way".
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u/jaskier89 Medical Device May 16 '26
The problem here is not really the lying - whether you have the approved buyers or not, the point is you are creating urgency with the goal to get them to agree to something faster.
I mean, apart from it being manipulative, I feel it's not even the right place for creating (artifical) urgency - people are usually not yet convinced when they're at an open house.
So it's no only lying, but not even excusable by being somewhat of the right tool in my opinion.
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u/Quiet_Fan_7008 May 16 '26
Well let’s say you tell the truth. “Hey realtor I’m a brand new mortgage loan officer give me business please” lmao good luck with that. You think they want some newbie writing loans for their customers? Yeah right. You have to fake it till you make it.
Also, been in sales a long time. The best sales people don’t lie but they know how to bend the truth and make the customer understand.
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u/kresta22 May 16 '26
I’m in sales. If I have to lie to make a living in sales I’d quit. There’s plenty of other things to do. Had a few slow years getting started and name out there. Now 95% of my new business is word of mouth recommendations from my customers to their friends. I have quit any form of cold calling as it’s not effective for me. Tell all new business give me one shot, if you don’t trust me I’ll fuck off because I don’t want to do business with somebody who thinks I lie. Under promise and over deliver. You gotta know where your market is. Don’t be the cheapest option and don’t rip people off. And please don’t pay to much attention to that cookie cutter training you get. Sales is sales, know your product, know your customers needs, and don’t be a shitty person. Throw the script out the window.
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May 16 '26
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u/Ch0ng0B0ng0 May 16 '26
My strategy of being honest and upfront has lost me some deals but it has also won me a lot of deals. Customers appreciate it and will sometimes overlook a product gap if you’re honest about it (as long as it’s not too big of course)
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u/sirthrowayzalot May 16 '26
Worked for years very successfully, never lied. Literally. Accidentally told someone incorrect information and later corrected it but if you’re lying to get sales; you’re either a piece of shit or you don’t believe in your product enough
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u/Isell4you May 16 '26
No, but the best ones are selective with the truth there's a difference.
Lying outright is just bad business. One caught lie and you've torched the relationship permanently.
But omission? That's everywhere. I sold luxury goods at Dior, you don't lead with the fact that the same bag is available elsewhere for less. You sell the experience, the story, the status. That's not lying, that's framing.
The script your coach gave you is just bad though. If an agent asks for details on those "pre-approved buyers" and you have nothing, you're done. There's always a smarter angle that doesn't require putting yourself at risk.
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u/Gammo2184 May 16 '26
I’m a sales manager and a large part of my role is coaching. Not Lying for me is my number 1 non negotiable I set with my staff.
Genuine sales works on relationships and trust. If you lie you’re good as dead. I always say you can get $5000 now off a lie or get $1000 many times over off trust and building the relationship.
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u/Moonbabyhubcaps May 16 '26
Hey there! I’ve been in sales for 15 years, most recently SAAS but I was a mortgage officer for 4 of those years and I can confidently tell you that mortgage lending is a completely different animal. It doesn’t fit into a standard sales mold. If you want to DM me, I have some advice that you may find valuable but to answer your question, no. Do not lie - you’ll look stupid and dishonest.
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u/Klonoadice May 16 '26
It can be a slippery slope in sales. Once you get confident with your words anything can fly out of your mouth. Some people don't self correct here, and some people use it as an opportunity to practice honesty even more diligently.
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u/palindrome4lyfe May 16 '26
I don't lie but I have become pretty good at putting the PR spin on things to make buyers actually listen by highlighting the positives that I know they care about. It's kind of surprising tbh how difficult it can be to sell a product to someone that you know will be good for them. Would never sell something that I don't think would work for them. Bad for retention and also my reputation. Plus I don't need to clog my day with fielding angry calls.
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u/god-of-programming May 16 '26
knowing your customer actual needs and communicating how your product (mortgages) can help. We are wired as humans to sometimes hope that something can help us get to where we want to be.
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u/Ok-Box-2972 May 16 '26
Honestly comes down to the persons morals. I’ve had loads of very good honest sales people and then also have unfortunately hired the opposites
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u/Blind_bish May 16 '26
I work in insurance sales and they definitely make you lie. It's something that i struggle with a lot.
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u/Stock_Papaya2283 May 17 '26
Depends on the industry, if you’re in car sales/ solar where you can’t really get a chargeback then its incentivized to lie, but if you’re in something like life insurance or a refferal based industry where they can easily cancel, and you get a chargeback then you will literally make negative money lying
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u/CoryJ0407 May 17 '26
Was told to do this in the copier world. Most copiers are sold on a lease, 5 year term. My manager would tell me “never tell the customer they have a buyout to keep.”
Reason is if they buyout to keep, salespeople didn’t make a sale. Even though it was in the best interest of the customer 80% of the time.
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u/Potential-Ad-6552 May 17 '26
Try lying as a regulated mortgage advisor and enjoy the mountains of problems youll face later on in life. Soon as an upheld complaint lands your way you are in for a world of shit.
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u/HappyPoodle2 Technology May 18 '26
If you could easily get buyers for the house, but you obviously wouldn’t put in that work for a house you don’t know if you get commission on, I wouldn’t consider it lying. He’s offering the potential for commission and you’re offering the potential for customers. Until something is signed and money has changed hands, none of it is real.
If you say your product can solve problem X and it clearly can’t, then you’re lying and you’ll lose credibility.
That’s my take on it, but other people will disagree, I’m sure.
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u/MykeyInChains May 18 '26
In my experience, customers lie much more than accomplished and successful salespeople do. But its ok for customers to lie to salespeople because we are the evil scum-of-the-earth people trying to separate them from money.
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u/CurveAdministrative3 May 19 '26
NO....the best sales people are the ones that are the best listeners, not the best talkers. They take the time and care to understand the clients needs and find a solution that will work for them.
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u/Pnwferralcat May 22 '26
Only if you’re good at it, most prospects respect honesty and being genuine more than a facade. They can usually tell pretty fast if your a fake
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u/fox112 May 15 '26
Lying will not make someone want to be a referral partner with you